Latest round of voting leaves a two-women race for British PM

Thursday, July 07, 2016 - 01:10

The UK Conservative party has eliminated Justice Secretary Michael Gove out of the race to replace David Cameron, leaving Interior minister Theresa May and eurosceptic rival Andrea Leadsom to fight an all-women contest for British prime minister. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Interior minister Theresa May and eurosceptic rival Andrea Leadsom emerged on Thursday (July 7) as the two candidates who will battle to become Britain's next prime minister and lead the country out of the European Union.
Conservative MP Graham Brady, who chairs the committee of Conservative backbenchers also know as the 1922 Committee, made the announcement.
May won 199 votes and Leadsom 84 in a second ballot of lawmakers of the governing Conservative party. Justice Secretary Michael Gove took just 46 votes and was eliminated from the race.
Grassroots Conservatives across the country will now vote to decide whether May or Leadsom becomes Britain's first woman prime minister since Margaret Thatcher was forced from office in 1990.
The result of the contest is expected by Sept. 9, meaning businesses and investors must endure two more months of uncertainty over who will lead the huge task of disentangling Britain's economy from the EU while trying to safeguard trade and investment.
Prime Minister David Cameron said last month he was stepping down after voters, many of them swayed by concerns over high immigration and a desire to reclaim 'independence' from Brussels, rejected his entreaties to keep Britain in the EU and his warnings that leaving would spell economic disaster.

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